Monday, January 15, 2007

Semi-recovered

So that's what a weekend is...

It's felt like such a long time since I've had two days when I haven't done anything. I can't say that I'm fully recovered from the mid-November to mid-January insanity, but I feel as though I've rebounded some. "Take better care of myself" was one of my new year's resolutions. These past two days of sleeping, knitting, and watching TV were an integral part of that.

Although the reviews I needed to write for Tuesday's show were on my mind, I told myself that I wasn't going to work on them until today. Yes, doing so means I'm working on the holiday, but there's no way I could write them tomorrow. I finished them early this afternoon, which means I have the rest of the day to enjoy without deadline pressure.

One of the rare ventures outside my apartment was a trip to Joann's for some yarn. I found some Wool-Ease on sale that I'm using to make a scarf for a friend who runs the site where I published my first reviews online. Sugar 'n Cream was on sale, so I bought a ball of the variegated blue cotton for other dishcloths. It might seem silly to get more when I haven't finished my first, but I think part of the reason why I've stalled on the dishcloth is that the cream color doesn't interest me.

While I was staring vacantly at the wall of knitting tools in search of a retractable tape measure, an older woman asked if I knitted the scarf I was wearing. I told her that I had, and we talked a little bit about knitting. I must say that this is one of the unexpected bonuses about knitting. Not striking up conversations with old ladies, not that there's anything wrong with that, but feeling like part of a community.

In the comments to my last post, Ruth wrote that she was catching up with the blog. (That's not an easy thing to do considering my prolific posting.) She said, "'Real' life got in the way, though sometimes I think life on-line is more genuine in its interactions than life 'out there'." I understand what she means. Having people visit here and post comments and doing the same on their blogs does have a realness even if it isn't "real". It feels like a little circle, even if I've only ever met three people who I know are reading this site. (Hashing this all out is probably the issue of the time for the great thinkers.)

In most cases I think it's a good thing. I don't know about you, but I could always use more friends. Sure, this is a lot different than interacting with people on a face to face basis, but it's nice to know that there are other people who share an interest and are interested in what's going on. Knitters seem to have a bond, although before I paint too rosy of a picture, I should point out that Kristin has told me some horror stories from her yarn store experiences.

I knitted about two feet of a scarf this weekend and made some progress on the dishcloth. I think I've finally got the hang of purling to where I don't feel as annoyed by it. I was hoping to finish it today, but last night I lost track of my rows and need to undo two rows--64 stitches--in k1p1. I was tempted to leave it, but the perfectionist in me knows that I can't.

Kristin has hooked me up with a way to make her Jazzy Coffee Cup Cozy on two needles rather than circs, so I plan on working on it today. In fact, it's time to step away from the computer for awhile and get to some knitting.

National De-Lurking Week is over, but the comments are always open. Also, I've amended my last post to include the direct link for the podcast I recorded on Friday. Or you could just click on the link in the previous sentence.

5 Comments:

At 8:19 PM, Blogger donnadb said...

Yeah, I've been thinking about that blogging community thing. I'm going to knit through the Golden Globes tonight while Noel liveblogs it, but maybe afterward I'll write about the feeling of intimacy among a blog and its readers. Better than writing about my frustrations at work -- which is the thing most on my mind right now -- and I hope it will be therapeutic.

 
At 5:59 AM, Blogger Jennifer said...

my non-blogging/non-knitting friends always think i'm weird when i say "oh, my one friend online blogged about this and that"...like the ppl i read about and correspond w/ on a daily basis can't be my "friends" because i haven't met them in person...whatever. the knitting community in general has a way of making others feel welcome and i am so happy to be part of it.

 
At 8:52 AM, Blogger Karen said...

I've found the online (blog-world) knitting community to be amazingly friendly and helpful, not to mention generous. Not only will bloggers offer help finding patterns and give support with finishing projects, they will track down yarn in the same dye lot for you, or even give you yarn from their stash if it will help you finish a project. How often does that kind of generosity happen outside of the blogging community? The world would be better if it happened more!

 
At 1:37 PM, Blogger Jenn said...

There's nothing wrong with purchasing yarn for other projects--it's how you build up the "stash". I have a bad habit of picking up yarn if it's on sale/I like it a lot/I have a vague plan for it. It's nice when I do need some yarn for a project (as in the case of the iPod holder) and I can go to my bin of yarn and find something. :-)

It's always nice to discover fellow knitters. I'm glad more of my friends (*Donna*) are learning! Plus, fellow knitters share tips/patterns/knitting stories, and that's always fine with me.

 
At 5:21 PM, Blogger the secret knitter said...

This is what I'm talking about. Donna posted some nice thoughts about it on her blog last night as well.

What makes me feel good is the helpfulness, encouragement, and genuine interest I get from everyone. It's not the same writing film reviews. Trust me.

 

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